Canterbury Tales

2.3. English period.
The English period (1386-1400): The great work of the English period is The Canterbury Tales, with its realistic setting in contemporary England. Here we immediately notice a difference from the other periods: the English influence is not a literay one, like the French and Italian, but is simply the influence of the breadth, scope, and zest of Chaucer's own land and age. The specific literary influences are still French, Italian, and Latin, but the setting is no longer in dream-worlds or in ancient Troy: it is on the road between London and Canterbury. Into this setting Chaucer could pour the whole wealth of his reading, his knowledge, his wide experience of men, and his humorous tolerance. Even when following earlier writers Chaucer was always an innovator.
1. He introduced Italian literature to England.
2. He was the first to use many of the meters and stanza forms which have become standard in English poetry.
3. He was the first English poet to deal estensively with the contemporary scene,
4. He was the first English poet to draw sharply individualized portraits.
5. He was the first English poet to analyze his characters psychologically,
6. He was the first English poet to impress his readers as a personality in his own right.
It is a tribute to him that since his death each age has admired him, but for different reasons ranging all the way from his satire on religious corruption to his humanism and his realism. Even at his funeral he made an innovation which established a new tradition, for he was buried in what has come to be "The Poets' Corner" of Westminster Abbey. 


Conclusion.
In this course work, the artistic the work of Geoffrey Chaucer "The Canterbury Tales", into a certain extent studied the phenomenon of genre originality works, analyzed the time at which the given work, appreciated the contribution of Geoffrey Chaucer to English literature XIV century and in the creation of the traditional English written language.
Chaucer's merits in the history of English literature and language are very great. He was the first among the British to give samples of a truly artistic poetry, where taste, a sense of proportion, grace of form and verse, the hand of the artist is visible everywhere, controlling his images, and not obeying them, as was often the case with medieval poets; everywhere you can see a critical attitude towards plots and heroes. In works Chaucer already has all the main features of the English national poetry: a wealth of fantasy combined with common sense, humor, observation, ability to bright characteristics, inclination to detailed descriptions, love of contrasts, in a word, everything that later we meet in an even more perfect form in Shakespeare, Fielding, Dickens and other great British writers. He gave completeness to English verse and brought to a high degree of grace literary language. Regarding the purity of speech, he always showed particular care and, not trusting the scribes, always looked personally lists of their compositions. In the creation of a literary language, he showed great moderation and common sense, rarely used neologisms and, not trying to revive obsolete expressions, he used only those words that have come into common use. Shine and beauty have already lost all meaning in literature.
Chaucer was the first to start write in their native language and prose, not Latin. He uses here national language deliberately in order to express better and more accurately their thoughts as well as out of patriotic feelings. Chaucer's worldview completely imbued with the pagan spirit and cheerfulness of the era Renaissance; only some medieval features and expressions like
"St. Venus ", found, however, in earlier works Chaucer, indicate that he has not yet completely freed himself from medieval views and confusion of concepts. On the other hand, some of his thoughts about nobility, about raising children, about war,
character exclusivity, would do honor even to a person of the XXI century.
One of Chaucer's companions that I find striking is the Wife of Bath. Chaucer describes her as being somewhat deaf with a gap tooth. She wears scarlet red stockings and ten pounds of kerchiefs on her head. She has been married five times and is now looking for her sixth husband. Maybe the pilgrimage to Canterbury is her way of meeting her sixth husband? He also tells us what an excellent weaver she is. It seems to me that the Wife of Bath needs a lot of attention because she thinks that she is God's gift to men. She says that she has a special talent, which is her knowledge of all the remedies of love. I picked the Wife of Bath to write about because as a woman of the 90’s it seems weird to me to read about a woman in the fourteenth century who traveled, married many times and spoke her thoughts in public.
The Cooks Tale is an unfinished fragment and details with the story of an apprentice cook named Perkin The Canterbury Tales consists of the stories related by the 29 pilgrims on their way to Saint Beckets shrine in Canterbury.
The Knights Tale describes how two kinsmen Arcite and Palamon fall in love with the same woman named Emily whom they first see out of their prison window.
The Millers Tale relates how old John, an Oxford carpenter, was deceived by a clerk named Nicholas who loses his job because of his loose habits.
The Wife of Baths Tale is preceded by a Prologue in which shw gives an account of her colorful life with five husbands.
The Sergeant at Laws Tale relates the tragic story of Constance who gets married to a Syrian Sultan after he converts to Christianity. At its best, The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer created a bright colorful panorama of the life of medieval England. By strength literary writing, sharp irony and a free outlook on things are the work is unmatched in all English literature before the 16th century. For each story, Chaucer finds a special tone, he loves variety: he often uses jokes, street anecdotes, rude comic, knows how to be refined and even gallant. The desire for diversity, for the richness of characteristics is manifested already in the novelistic frame of the book. His storytellers, found on the main road are people from different parts of England, representatives of various professions and social status, with different interests, tastes and preferences. Unites them cleanly external everyday motive: they all go to the town of Canterbury to worship the coffin of the English saint Thomas Becket.
Chaucer didn't finish his best for unknown reasons works. In total, he wrote 24 short stories. The book opens with "General prologue ", which provides a description of all the storytellers, at the same time each short story is preceded by a special prologue, which includes conversations and disputes between pilgrims or frank confessions of the narrator about his customs and habits. The Canterbury Tales were one of the first English printed books.